Seeds of Doubt

The air grew heavy.

Danzo remained silent, his single eye narrowed.

This matter, he and Hiruzen Sarutobi had reached a consensus back then, pinning the blame on Iwagakure.

Even Hiruzen didn't know it was his Root that was responsible, believing it was Iwagakure's doing.

For Qingguang to suddenly bring this up now, there was only one possibility.

That Orochimaru had sold him out!

The most important thing now was to appease Qingguang's emotions; he absolutely could not let Qingguang down.

This was his hope for mastering the future of Wood Release and the Sharingan.

Turning around, Danzo looked at Qingguang. After a long silence, he finally sighed, shook his head slightly, and walked down the corridor into the depths.

"Follow me. Since you insist, then so be it."

They arrived at the morgue.

A chilling cold permeated the air, and the walls were lined with row upon row of drawers.

Danzo stepped forward and pulled open three drawers on the left side.

Three pale, frost-covered faces were revealed.

Two of them had sunken eye sockets; their Sharingan were gone.

"Qingguang, it's not that I'm unwilling to return them to the Uchiha."

"It's that the Sharingan of two of them were destroyed in the battle with Iwagakure. If this news were to reach the Uchiha Clan."

"They would undoubtedly harbor immense hatred for Iwagakure, and many Hawk Faction Uchiha would disregard the village's warnings and seek revenge in Iwagakure."

"This would shatter the fragile peace that remains. Everything I've done is to delay the arrival of war as much as possible, to buy you more time to master Wood Release."

Fortunately, he had kept a contingency. He had only given Orochimaru two pairs of Sharingan, and both pairs were destroyed in failed experiments.

The last remaining pair was originally intended for Root ninjas to experiment with.

He hadn't expected it to be useful now.

Qingguang lowered his head silently, a hint of apology appearing on his face: "I'm sorry, Lord Danzo, I shouldn't have distrusted you."

"It's just..."

"It's fine. I can understand your difficulties. I only hope you can slightly empathize with my own struggles."

"Take them back and bury them properly."

Shortly after Qingguang left, Danzo immediately set out to settle the score with that cunning viper.

On the outskirts of Konoha, in a hidden laboratory.

Danzo's sudden visit caught Orochimaru by surprise.

"Lord Danzo, it's so late, what brings you here?"

A dangerous glint flickered in Orochimaru's eyes.

This damned Danzo, how did he find this place?

"Orochimaru, do you want to know how I found this place?"

"In all of Konoha, there's nothing I want to know that I don't."

"Root's intelligence network is far more powerful than you imagine."

"I can allow you to do some things you wish to do, but Qingguang is not someone you can touch."

Qingguang must be mine alone, and the power of Wood Release and the Sharingan must be controlled by him alone!

Orochimaru chuckled twice: "Lord Danzo, you are mistaken."

"Qingguang is under the Hokage's command. I believe you are aware of this."

"Instead of us two engaging in infighting, how about we form a temporary alliance?"

Qingguang, this coveted prize, whether it was him, Danzo, or Hiruzen Sarutobi, all wanted to claim him for themselves.

The reason he told Qingguang about that matter earlier was only to plant the seed of doubt in his heart.

Once trust is shattered, it is difficult to rebuild. It's just three Uchiha, he believed Danzo could handle it.

After all, the trump card that could truly make Qingguang completely side with him had yet to be played.

Danzo fell into thought at this moment.

Orochimaru was right. The only one who could truly have Qingguang was the "Hokage"!

No matter how much trust Qingguang placed in him, only the one sitting in the sun could completely control Qingguang's everything.

"Are you trying to be my enemy?"

"No, Lord Danzo, I think you misunderstand me."

"I just don't want Qingguang to be held back any longer by Teacher Sarutobi."

"Whether you or I ultimately succeed, it won't stop the implementation of your plan. After all, we're in the same boat."

Both of them held information that could put the other to death.

But the information wasn't equal.

Danzo still thought he had Orochimaru completely under his thumb, forcing him to choose an alliance at this moment.

"You'd better behave yourself from now on, and don't let me catch you making any more little moves."

"Root's eyes are everywhere."

At the Konoha Hospital.

Qingguang brought two children here.

"Big Sister, I'm entrusting the treatment of these two children to you."

Tsunade put down the late-night snack she was halfway through eating, wiped her mouth, and casually pushed aside a large pile of manuscripts on the table. Looking at the injuries of the two children, her expression turned grim.

"Who did this? To be so brutal to children?"

The two little ones had been temporarily put under a genjutsu by Qingguang on the way here.

"Big Sister, they cried out in pain on the way here, so I used genjutsu to let them sleep for a bit," Qingguang said sheepishly, thinking Tsunade was criticizing him.

Tsunade was taken aback, then let out a chuckle, her body shaking with laughter, her ample bosom jiggling.

"I wasn't talking about that, I was talking about these children's injuries."

A simple children's scuffle shouldn't result in this; they even had bruises.

With a pale green chakra energy emanating from her hands, Tsunade made the bruises on the children's limbs disappear.

Before long, the two children woke up. After thanking Qingguang and Tsunade, they left.

After the children left, Qingguang let out a helpless, wry smile. "These two kids were injured by Kushina at the Ninja Academy."

"I happened to be at a dango shop next to the academy and heard the commotion in the small woods behind it, so I went to take a look."

"Kushina was fine, just a bit dirty, but these two little guys were lying on the ground crying their eyes out."

This made Tsunade pause, feeling a little embarrassed.

"That girl Kushina, really. I told her to go easy at the academy and just teach them a lesson, why does she still get so worked up and start fighting so easily?"

"I'll have to get Grandma Mito to give her another good talking-to."

"It's also possible that I've been too busy with my own affairs lately and have been neglecting her," Tsunade reflected, feeling a bit self-reproachful.

Grandma Mito was old, her end was near, and she didn't even have enough chakra to maintain the Yin Seal. She was aging day by day.

"Big Sister, what have you been busy with lately? Is there anything I can help with?" Qingguang asked curiously.

Tsunade sighed and tossed the manuscripts she had pushed aside earlier in front of Qingguang.

"It's fine to show you. Here, take a look. You're sharp, see what you think of my method."